Beware the company you keep !

Humboldt Park murder has connection to recent wrongful conviction award
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June 30, 2009

BY ROSEMARY SOBOL Staff Reporter
The Saturday murder of a Berwyn man occurred inside a sport-utility vehicle registered to a man who was recently awarded a record $21 million by a federal jury after he spent 11 years in prison for a murder conviction that was later overturned.

The slaying of 37-year-old Freddy Vasquez, of Berwyn, occurred at 7:06 a.m. on the 2400 block of West North Ave. in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, according to Shakespeare District police Capt. Marc Buslik.

Vasquez was sitting in the rear driver’s side seat of an SUV that is registered to Juan Johnson, who recently was awarded the $21 million award, according to Buslik, who said Johnson was not in the vehicle or on the scene of the incident.

A federal jury awarded the money to Johnson June 22 and attorneys for Johnson, an alleged Spanish Cobra leader, said his wrongful conviction was part of a pattern of abuse on the city's Northwest Side by former Chicago Police Officer Reynaldo Guevara, authorities said.

In Johnson's case, at least three people who identified him in the murder later said they did so only after Guevara or others working with him told them to, his attorneys said. The $21 million award was the largest ever for a wrongful conviction in Chicago, his attorneys said.

In Saturday’s murder, a car pulled up alongside the SUV on its passenger’s side and someone inside opened fire, striking Vasquez in the neck and head, according to the captain, who said rounds also went through the vehicle and hit 32-year-old Leticia Vega -- who was sitting next to Vasquez -- in the chest.

The SUV was being driven by Myra DeLeon and 37-year-old Timothy Russell was a passenger, Buslik said, adding that DeLeon was not shot and drove the SUV to Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center.

Authorities said Vega, who was seriously injured, was later transferred to another hospital for treatment.

Vasquez, of 2238 S. Kenilworth Ave. in Berwyn, was pronounced dead at Saint Elizabeth Medical Center at 7:27 a.m. Saturday, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.

An autopsy Sunday determined Vasquez died of multiple gunshot wounds and his death was declared a homicide, according to the medical examiner’s office.

All the people inside the SUV had just returned from a social club when the shooting occurred and all are allegedly affiliated with the Spanish Cobra street gang, according to the captain, who said the slaying may have been a result of an ongoing feud between the Spanish Cobras and the Maniac Latin Disciples.

Police are seeking to speak to Johnson because his vehicle was involved in the incident, according to Buslik.